'Not a Straight Documentary' with Childwall Youth Club

'Not a Straight Documentary' is the working title for this short film project, working with young people from Childwall Youth Club.

The aim of the project was to work with a group of 13-16 year old lads, and support them exploring issues around sexuality. We were very keen to make sure that the film making aspect of this project recorded the process that they were going through, and just as keen to avoid making the kind of film where young people are pushed in front of the camera and pressured into saying the 'right kinds of things'.

The process that they went through consisted of creative activities, like the one below, discussions between themselves, and meeting new people who could share with them their experiences of being young and 'out'. We wanted to make sure that these discussions were captured in as natural a way as possible, so we soon ditched the expensive DV cameras and started using an array of small digital cameras and webcams. The lads said that they found this much less obtrusive, and were all able film and take part in the discussion in a much less formal way.

The finished film is now in the process of being edited and will be shown at a launch event sometime in the coming months.

Creating Unstereotypical Gay Characters: John

We asked the lads to create some characters who were gay, but who weren't cliched stereotypes.

They were given a sheet with a characters name, and a few facts about them to start with, and asked to sort betweenthe statements that they think they might really say, and the ones that they wouldn't.

This short film introduces one of the characters and explains the thinking behind his creation.